Year: 2022

CARNIVOROUS PLANT CONDUCTION. "They exhibit rapid trap movements and their traps contain numerous glands. Spontaneous generation of spikes with quite uniform shape, propagating across the recording area, has been observed for all types of sample. In the analysis of the electrical network, higher richer synchronous activity was observed relative to other plant species and organs previously described in the literature." https://lnkd.in/eVTKbBi View in LinkedIn

PLANT CONDUCTION. "The immediate and rapid snapping shut of the trap is a perfect demonstration of a sensory-motor system that involves neither nerves nor muscles. It has been known for some time that the mechanism underlying the closure of the trap involves the generation of very fast electrical depolarizations in the form of action potentials by the cells of the trigger hairs which lead to the rapid closure of the trap." (Venus Fly Trap). https://lnkd.in/esfixKj View in LinkedIn

ALTERNATIVE MECHANISM. "Rapid closure is brought about by a combination of elastic properties and biochemical/biophysical changes in the motor cells. However, unlike animal neuronal action potentials in which Na+/Ca2+ ions carry the depolarizing phase of the action potential, the rapid depolarization component of the Venus flytrap action potential is most likely brought about by the opening of rapid (R-type) anion channels since plants lack the voltage-sensitive cation channels that characterise animal excitability." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098221300849X View in LinkedIn

ULTRASOUND REFLECTOR. "A carnivorous plant features an ultrasound reflector attractive for mutualistic bats. This reflector enables the bats to easily find and identify the plant’s pitchers. The bats fertilize these Paleotropical plants with feces in exchange for roosts. Such reflectors were convergently acquired in Neotropical bat-pollinated plants." https://lnkd.in/ecwdnWm View in LinkedIn

MICROBIOME OF CARNIVOROUS PLANTS. "The opportunistic feeding behavior, to catch and utilize various prey, provides Genlisea plants alternative N- and P- macronutrient sources from microbes. The abundance of bacteria involved in nitrogen cycling (ammonia oxidizing, nitrite reducing and nitrogen fixation) indicates their importance for the gain of N- nutrients. In addition, various transporters for different N- forms such as ammonium, nitrate, amino acids and oligopeptides together with transcription factors involved in cellular nitrogen metabolism are highly up-regulated in Genlisea rhizophylls." https://lnkd.in/e7w_sxr View in LinkedIn

PROTECTION. "When the carnivorous plant D. muscipula digests insects, the possibility exists that it could become infected by any pathogenic bacteria present in those insects. Instead, the plant appears to absorb the nutrients it requires from the insects that it ingests without becoming infected." https://lnkd.in/e9VTVUF View in LinkedIn

NATURAL ANTIBIOTIC. "Antimicrobial Activity of the Carnivorous Plant Dionaea muscipula Against Food-Related Pathogenic and Putrefactive Bacteria. The UV, MS, and NMR analyses revealed that the antibacterial compound was plumbagin." https://lnkd.in/e9VTVUF View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this two weekend section on carnivorous plants. The discovery of the curious characteristics of these plants has probably not been exhausted. Action potentials, unusual genetics, acute sensing and movement, the carnivorous lifestyle with digestive enzymes, natural antibiotics, a complex microbiome, special slippery slopes to trap prey, and ultrasound protection may be the tip of the iceberg. View in LinkedIn

NATURAL SELECTION OF CODE. "The main reason for the difficulties in stepping from the old molecular biology concepts to current knowledge about the dynamics of genome biology is that the genetic code as a natural language was explained by inherent physical and chemical properties of matter. The meaning (semantics) of the information stored in the genetic code was assumed to be the result of selection of a varying molecular syntax." https://lnkd.in/eUYvi8e View in LinkedIn

RNA WORLD HYPOTHESIS. "The concepts of the origin of the genetic code and the definitions of life changed dramatically after the RNA world hypothesis. Main narratives in molecular biology and genetics such as the “central dogma,” “one gene one protein” and “non-coding DNA is junk” were falsified meanwhile. RNA moved from the transition intermediate molecule into centre stage." An important paper. https://lnkd.in/eg6uePF View in LinkedIn